NARAL Pro-Choice America, Advocates for Youth, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health and Young Women United partner on outreach effort

Renowned workers’ rights activist, Latina leader, and native New Mexican, Dolores Huerta has taken to the airwaves to oppose the City of Albuquerque’s Nov. 19 ballot measure that, if passed, would criminalize later abortion services in the city, and effectively, throughout New Mexico. The ad, sponsored by NARAL Pro-Choice America, Advocates for Youth, Young Women United, and National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, will run in English and Spanish on six different radio stations from now until Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 19, when voters decide on the measure.

“I am Dolores Huerta, New Mexican, and Catholic mother of eleven. Women are the only ones who should make decisions about their bodies. We cannot allow others to interfere in our lives. Decisions about abortion belong with a woman, her family, and her doctor. I have fought for working people all of my life. Join me and defend the rights, dignity and the respect of all women and families. “

Voting “against” the measure preserves current law that respects a woman’s right to make this personal decision without the government interfering. Every pregnancy is different and women and their doctors need continued access to all safe and legal options.

“Anti-choice activists in New Mexico and around the country have tried everything in their power to roll back this constitutional right, and we will keep fighting against their efforts,” said NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue. “This measure will put politics into the personal, complex, health care decisions that belong to New Mexican women and their doctors. That is why we are focused on supporting the local efforts of our partners in Albuquerque to ensure women and families vote against this harmful ballot measure on Nov. 19.”

A recent poll of Latino/a registered voters by the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health showed that 74 percent of participants agreed that women have the right to make these personal and private decisions without politicians interfering.

"National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health is committed to ensure that all Latinas have the full range of reproductive-health care, including abortion services, regardless of their zip code," said Jessica González-Rojas, executive director of National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health. "Our polling shows that our community supports the ability of Latinas to make personal, private decisions about abortion without the interference of politicians. We fully support the leadership and expertise of our local reproductive-justice partners in Albuquerque and stand in solidarity as they fight for health, justice and respect for Albuquerque women.”

“We know there is strong support among young Latinos for abortion access, their votes matter and we need turn up the volume on this message to reach them,” said Debra Hauser, president of Advocates for Youth. “Advocates is proud to invest in the leadership of women of color and young women as they fight in their communities to ensure their right to safe, legal abortion care.”

The campaign against the ballot measure has been led by Albuquerque residents to protect access to safe, legal abortion for New Mexican women.

"We are proud to be working alongside our national partners to ensure the voices of women of color are included in our efforts to keep complex decisions about abortion in the hands of women and families," said Tannia Esparza, executive director of Young Women United. “As an Albuquerque-based community organizing project by and for women of color, Young Women United is proud of the leadership we have carried over the last decade to defeat attacks on reproductive-health care. Our work in the Respect ABQ Women campaign has centered on the lived experiences of Latino/as and other communities of color as part of a long-term vision of reproductive justice for all people."